


even though my love is so small

by darkmagiattack



Series: YGO Collab Love Drabbles [7]
Category: Princess Tutu, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Spirit Gate 6, princess tutu au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmagiattack/pseuds/darkmagiattack
Summary: a heartship princess tutu au because i love to break my own heart!drabble for YGO Collab Love's Spirit Gate #6. prompt: Reverie, but i also squeezed in Glowing by happy accident(title from the princess tutu ending theme)
Relationships: Bakura Ryou/Mutou Yuugi
Series: YGO Collab Love Drabbles [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797124
Kudos: 9
Collections: Spirit Gate Round 11





	even though my love is so small

Snowy white wings fold over themselves, a gathering of creamy feathers, swirling. A duck, once—now a man, then a swan-like prince, clad in tulle and soft down, appears in a flash of light. Perfectly shaped pointe shoes adorn his feet, gracefully aligned in fourth position, one foot held sideways before the other, as he leans with a subtle bend at the waist. His violet eyes hold an invitation to dance.  
  
Another prince, a true-born prince, looks on with a gaze estranged from his memory. Has Ryou seen this man before? He has walked through each day in this idyllic town dully, searching for that which eludes him. His heart, which has been shattered, and his enemy, the raven king, who hides, biding his time.

“Are you the one they call Prince Tutu?” Ryou finds himself asking, taking a step his way. He’d been told to stay away; that having a heart would only bring him pain, but he wishes desperately to know what it was he felt for this man, who meant to restore his heart.

“Prince Ryou, may I have this dance?” is all he receives in reply, the white-clad man bowing further. The voice was familiar, and kind. There’s a sadness in his eyes, a melancholy resignation. 

Ryou nods. There is no other answer, for him.

With the first notes of a phantom reverie, the performance begins, a single hand outstretched. The nameless prince then lifts his back leg, going en pointe. Ryou, with a gentle plié, his knees bent, hops forward, taking the proffered hand. 

Circling each other, a pas de deux takes form, the nameless man leading, and Ryou supporting the lifts and dips that his partner initiates. As the enigmatic prince turns a pirouette, Ryou tries to get a good glimpse of his face. He knows him, somehow. 

Still, the man smiles, the dance having drawn out Ryou’s double, a lost piece of his heart. Parting, leg raised in an arabesque, the doppelganger vanishes in a cascade of sparks, becoming a single glowing ember. 

Prince Tutu beckons the real Ryou, and he complies. He’d once been afraid, of both Tutu and the feelings he brought, but no longer, for he melts into the embrace.

“This, dear Ryou, is love.”

A warmth spreads in his chest with his touch, the shard returned, and he finally understands. 

All along, it had been love.

**Author's Note:**

> so i won't ever make a bigger fic out of this because i would shed all of my liquids in the process bc this au makes my heart hurt but if you were wondering, yugi is duck, ryou is prince mytho, yami bakura is rue, and atem is fakir. also i used to be a dancer but im so out of practice dont @ me if i fuck shit up. ironically the way i ended this makes it a little happier than actual princess tutu canon... pls watch princess tutu but be prepared to cry its so pretty and sad and lovely.


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